Tal Danino: We can use bacteria to detect cancer (and maybe treat it)

Translator: Eleni Zhupa Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

You may not realize this,

Ndoshta nuk keni dijeni,

but there are more bacteria in your body than stars in our entire galaxy.

por ka me shume baktere ne trupin tuaj sesa yje ne te gjithe galaksine.

This fascinating universe of bacteria inside of us

Ky univers magjepses bakteresh brenda nesh

is an integral part of our health,

eshte pjese e shendetit tone ne teresi,

and our technology is evolving so rapidly

dhe teknologjia po perparon kaq shpejt

that today we can program these bacteria like we program computers.

sa sot ne mund te programojme bakteret ashtu si programojme kompjuterat.

Now, the diagram that you see here,

Skema qe ju shihni ketu,

I know it looks like some kind of sports play,

e di qe duket si nje lloj skeme sportive,

but it is actually a blueprint of the first bacterial program I developed.

por ne fakt eshte nje projekti im per programimin e pare bakterial.

And like writing software, we can print and write DNA

Ashtu si krijojme nje software, ne mund te shkruajme dhe krijojme ADN

into different algorithms and programs inside of bacteria.

ne algoritme te ndryshme dhe programe brenda baktereve.

What this program does is produces fluorescent proteins

Ky program prodhon proteina fluoreshente

in a rhythmic fashion

ne menyre ritmike

and generates a small molecule

dhe jep nje molekule te vogel

that allows bacteria to communicate and synchronize,

qe i lejon bakteret te komunikojne dhe sinkronizohen,

as you're seeing in this movie.

ashtu si po shikoni ne kete filmim.

The growing colony of bacteria that you see here

Kolonite bakteriale ne rritje qe ju shihni ketu

is about the width of a human hair.

jane sa gjeresia e nje fije floku.

Now, what you can't see is that our genetic program

Ajo qe nuk duket eshte se programimi yne gjenetik

instructs these bacteria to each produce small molecules,

i udhezon bakteret te prodhojne cdonjera molekula te vogla,

and these molecules travel between the thousands of individual bacteria

te cilat kalojne ndermjet mijera baktereve te vecanta

telling them when to turn on and off.

dhe i udhezojne kur te ndizen dhe fiken.

And the bacteria synchronize quite well at this scale,

Bakteret sinkronizohen shume mire ne kete nivel,

but because the molecule that synchronizes them together can only travel so fast,

Por meqe molekulat qe i sinkronizojne levizin shume shpejt,

in larger colonies of bacteria, this results in traveling waves

ne koloni bakteriale te medha, kjo shkakton vale qe levizin

between bacteria that are far away from each other,

midis baktereve qe jane shume larg ndermjet tyre,

and you can see these waves going from right to left across the screen.

dhe ju mund te shihni valet qe levizin nga e djathta ne te majte ne ekran.

Now, our genetic program relies on a natural phenomenon

Programi yne gjenetik bazohet ne kete dukuri natyrore

called quorum sensing,

qe quhet ndijim grupi,

in which bacteria trigger coordinated and sometimes virulent behaviors

bakteret krijojne sjellje te koordinuara dhe ndonjehere virulente

once they reach a critical density.

nese arrijne dendesi kritike.

You can observe quorum sensing in action in this movie,

Mund te verehet ne kete filmim si vepron ky ndijim,

where a growing colony of bacteria only begins to glow

nderkohe qe nje koloni bakteriale fillon te shkelqeje

once it reaches a high or critical density.

vetem kur arrin nje dendesi te larte ose kritike.

Our genetic program

Programimi yne gjenetik

continues producing these rhythmic patterns of fluorescent proteins

vijon te prodhoje keto skema ritmike proteinash fluoreshente

as the colony grows outwards.

me rritjen e kolonise se jashtmi.

This particular movie and experiment we call The Supernova,

Kete filmim ne vecanti dhe eksperimentin ne e quajme Supernova

because it looks like an exploding star.

sepse duket si nje yll qe shperthen.

Now, besides programming these beautiful patterns,

Pervec programimit te ketyre skemave te bukura

I wondered, what else can we get these bacteria to do?

une po mendoja: "Cfare behet tjeter me keto baktere?"

And I decided to explore how we can program bacteria

Keshtu vendosa te hulumtoj si programohen bakteret

to detect and treat diseases in our bodies like cancer.

per te pikasur dhe trajtuar semundjet si psh tumoret.

One of the surprising facts about bacteria

Nje fakt mahnites per bakteret

is that they can naturally grow inside of tumors.

eshte se ato rriten natyralisht ne brendesi te tumoreve.

This happens because typically tumors

Arsyeja eshte se tumoret

are areas where the immune system has no access,

jane zona ku sistemi imunitar nuk mund te veproje,

and so bacteria find these tumors

per kete bakteret i gjejne keto tumore

and use them as a safe haven to grow and thrive.

dhe i perdorin si nje vend te sigurte per tu rritur dhe shumuar.

We started using probiotic bacteria

Ne filluam me baktere probiotike,

which are safe bacteria that have a health benefit,

qe jane baktere te sigurta dhe mund te jene me dobi,

and found that when orally delivered to mice,

dhe pame se kur u jepeshin minjve ne menyre orale,

these probiotics would selectively grow inside of liver tumors.

keto probiotike rriteshin ne menyre selektive brenda tumoreve.

We realized that the most convenient way

Kuptuam se menyre me e mire

to highlight the presence of the probiotics,

per te vene ne pah pranine e ketyre probiotikeve,

and hence, the presence of the tumors,

pra, dhe pranine e tumoreve

was to get these bacteria to produce a signal

ishte qe keto baktere te prodhonin nje sinjal

that would be detectable in the urine,

qe te ishte i kapshem ne urine,

and so we specifically programmed these probiotics

dhe per kete programuam keto baktere

to make a molecule that would change the color of your urine

te prodhonin nje molekule per te ndryshuar ngjyren e urines

to indicate the presence of cancer.

duke treguar keshtu pranine e kancerit.

We went on to show that this technology

Na duhej te tregonim se kjo teknologji

could sensitively and specifically detect liver cancer,

do te ishte e ndjeshme dhe specifike per kancerin e melcise,

one that is challenging to detect otherwise.

qe eshte veshtire te identifikohet.

Now, since these bacteria specifically localize to tumors,

Meqe keto baktere vendosen te tumoret,

we've been programming them to not only detect cancer

i programuam qe jo vetem te identifikonin tumorin

but also to treat cancer

por dhe ta trajtonin ate

by producing therapeutic molecules from within the tumor environment

duke prodhuar molekula terapeutike ne brendesi te mjedisit tumoral

that shrink the existing tumors,

qe do te reduktonin tumorin,

and we've been doing this using quorum sensing programs

dhe kete e beme duke perdorur ndijimin e grupit

like you saw in the previous movies.

ashtu si pate ne filmime me pare.

Altogether, imagine in the future taking a programmed probiotic

Imagjinoni sesi ne te ardhmen duke mare probiotike te programuar

that could detect and treat cancer,

do te mund te identifikohen dhe trajtohen tumoret,

or even other diseases.

ose dhe semundje te tjera.

Our ability to program bacteria

Aftesia per te programuar bakteret

and program life

dhe programuar jeten

opens up new horizons in cancer research,

hap horizonte te reja ne hulumtimet per tumoret,

and to share this vision, I worked with artist Vik Muniz

dhe per te ndare me ju kete vizion, punova me Vik Muniz

to create the symbol of the universe,

per te krijuar simbolin e universit,

made entirely out of bacteria or cancer cells.

teresisht me baktere ose qeliza tumorale.

Ultimately, my hope is that the beauty and purpose of this microscopic universe

Ne fund, shpresoj se bukuria dhe qellimi i universit mikroskopik

can inspire new and creative approaches for the future of cancer research.

te frymezoje perqasje te reja dhe krijuese per hulumtime tumorale.

Thank you.

Faleminderit!

(Applause)

(duartrokitje)